I was fourteen and in an
unfamiliar locality with strangers and acquaintances less interacted with
around me. The place was beautiful yet the fear of having none to confide in or
have a hearty chat with disabled me from soaking in all that the place had to
offer. And while I ponder upon the have-nots of the moment, walks in the most
attractive person I had seen in ages. He comes and sits beside me. With a good
physique, wavy and long hair falling all over his forehead, a satchel on his
back and a camera around his neck, the stranger comes and sits beside me. I
steal glances of him, the fear of being caught staring occupies my mind and
then…. it happens: our eyes meet. I observe that he is just a few years older
than I am and yet is unusually confident of what he says and does: a character
I admire in people.
The bus comes to a halt and the
hour long walk to the caves begins. My teammates sense my desire to walk with
the stranger by my side and they let me. Overwhelmed, I move out and find the
stranger still waiting for me. We had still not shared a word and yet, somehow
it clicked both of us that we should spend the next hour in each other’s
company. The guide keeps on narrating the rich history of the majestic place we
had set foot in but by now the stranger was no longer a stranger to me. He was
a person with a name and with eyes that twinkled every time he smiled and talks
that could mesmerize even an unromantic person as me.
That hour gave me innumerable
memories, memories to be cherished and treasured in the days, months and years
to come. Little did I know that even seven years of contact post that one hour
was insufficient to make a bond last a lifetime. And then, just like that,
without any warning or a goodbye, a phone call took him away. It was the last
time I had seen those twinkly eyes.
We were constantly in touch even
after I returned home and went to the next town for further education. The
distance between us hardly mattered to us until one fateful day when
differences started showing up. Each thought the other was wrong, each wanted
the other to apologize first and then…just like it had begun - unasked and in
an unexpected manner, the love that united us was gone…..taking him away from
me.
No amount of pleading could bring
him back and therefore I moved on. Then some months later, I received a note
from him asking me to revive the bond but by now I was a young woman of twenty
one, too strong to be affected by emotions once abandoned. And thus the game of
turning each other down continues but in our heart of hearts, we are both aware
that we rule each other’s minds ever since the day of the hour long walk.
Pleading isn’t required. Your smile goes a long way. No matter what, you know and he knows and that is who‘s supposed to know what you guys feel.
ReplyDelete